By using this site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and our Terms of Use. Close
xboxgreen on 11 July 2025
Edit Thread
RolStoppable said:
xboxgreen said:

The 8th generation is far different than the 7th generation in terms of games. Digital libraries and GAAS became the norm in the 8th generation and a lot of people didn't want to give up their game libraries they bought. That is why a lot of people said losing the 8th generation was the worse generation to lose. Playstation and Xbox bread and butter are third party games. Their exclusive don't even chart that well in comparison (DS 2 for example sold only 1.5 million). According to newzoo, there isn't even a first party exclusive in the top 20 most played games.

Source 
Xbox : https://newzoo.com/resources/rankings/top-xbox-games-series-s-x-global

Playstation: https://newzoo.com/resources/rankings/top-ps5-games



Nintendo isn't competing against Playstation or Xbox because hardly anyone buys a Switch for third party games.

Microsoft strategy is a sound one to put all their game on all platforms and turn Xbox into a console/pc hybrid. Microsoft's future is secured because all the acquisitions they were able to make under Phil Spencer (Minecraft, COD, Bethesda RPGs, WoW, and more). That is why Phil Spencer is a great leader in my opinion.

Indeed, Nintendo doesn't need to convince anyone to buy their console for third party games, because Nintendo's own games are convincing enough. No PS gamer had to give up their PS library when buying a Switch, because there are no laws against multi-console ownership.

The reason why we are seeing combined PS+Xbox sales decline this generation is because there is a decreased incentive to own both of these consoles and that's because Xbox has no exclusive good games anymore. I don't view the decline as an indicator that console gaming in general has become less interesting, rather it's that Xbox specifically has become less interesting due to its lack of exclusive games.

Spencer put Microsoft on track to become a third party publisher. It is a sound strategy if you find it too tough to compete in the console market, but at the same time it's a death sentence for Microsoft's console business. Hence why Spencer is the clear choice for the question posed by this thread.

Even if Microsoft made all their first party games exclusive it won't overcome PS5 sales or make them that much more competitive unless they make COD and Minecraft exclusive. MS first party games have been scoring well this generation minus red fall.

Playstation and Xbox consoles has always been about third party games. Without third party, none of these consoles would exist. Hardly any of their first party games ever charts and if it does it is for a short while. 

Buying both Xbox and Playstation consoles together was never that popular to begin with despite what you see in the forums. PC gaming is growing and taking both Xbox and Playstation sales away. That is why even Sony is taking the third party approach and releasing their games everywhere.

As a consumer, Xbox series consoles provided me more value than any playstation or any console for that matter in the past thanks to game pass. If a game is on game pass day 1 why pay 60 - 80 dollars when I can pay 10 extra dollars on top of an xbox live / PSN subscription?

Much more enticing than playstation timed exclusive strategy. So there is value in Xbox thanks to Phil Spencer but most Playstation owners play GAAS so it won't matter to them. Also, Xbox wouldn't be here probably without Phil Spencer because there were a lot of rumors that MS was going to sell off xbox and discontinue it. Phil Spencer convince MS leadership to keep Xbox around.